So I have been looking for a very long time for a pattern that has a cowl neck for woven fabrics that is not cut on the bias. People rave about bias cut garments and how they cling, swing and drape, but I can’t stand the way they feel on my body and don’t enjoy sewing bias-cut edges either. Mind you, I don’t mind swing or drape in a garment but the clinging of a bias-cut garment feels more like binding to me. Vogue 9006 is the only pattern for wovens with a cowl neck that is not cut on the bias to crop up. I like it, but the fabric has to be very lightweight and have lovely soft drape in order for that neck to fall as it should and not make you feel and look like that Bazooka Joe comic character named Mort with his shirt covering the lower half of his face, or a bandido in an old western, take your pick.
And here’s another top I made this week, not as successful as the previous one, but not a total wadder* either:
I’m trying to use up my rayon challis and make some comfy loose tops for summer. I have one piece left and now have to decide which pattern to use. That often takes longer than the actual sewing. And since bias, or lack of it is the topic of the day, I might add that bias facings and bindings are very good, and used on both of these tops, facing on the first, binding on the second, but a little bias in a garment goes a long way.
Note that my OPINION on bias is not at all unbiased, only the cowl neck top is unbiased and in my opinion, that’s a good thing. Huh?
*Wadder: a sewing project gone so badly wrong all you can do is wad it up and throw it in the trash.